Classe Tous Risques (1960)

AKA:  The Big Risk

Director: Claude Sautet

Writers: Jose Giovanni, Claude Sautet, Pascal Jardin

Composer: Georges Delerue

Starring: Lino Ventura, Sandra Milo, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marcel Dalio, Michel Ardan, Simone France, Michele Meritz, Stan Krol, Evelyne Ker, Betty Schneider, France Asselin

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The big crime! The big chase! Fever-pitch tension grips city! Manhunt spans a continent!

Plot: Abel Davis is a criminal, hunted in Italy. The police are closing in, so he and his pal Raymond arrange to flee back to France with Abel's wife, Thérèse, and their two young sons. Abel and Raymond commit a brazen robbery to get funds, killing two men; in the escape, more die. Abel arrives in Nice with the boys, calls his pals in Paris, and gets the brush-off. Reluctantly, they send a stranger, Eric Stark, to bring Abel to Paris, but he's getting the message he's on his own. Honor, friendship, and debt now count for little. What can Abel, a wanted man with two small children and only Stark as a friend, do? "Never give ground," he tells Eric, but how long can he hold to his code?

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

So I was in the mood for some Jean-Paul Belmondo and I came across this.  I'd swear he didn't show up until halfway through but that first half is a hell of a ride.  Abel (Ventura) isn't a likeable guy.  He's a killer with a bit of a code but he's still a killer.  He's got no problem offing cops, much less anyone who crosses him.  People die in this flick, good people, and that added much to the drama.  Back to Abel...he's a criminal through and through and there are some nice moments that kept me wondering how this guy was going to go down if he was going to get it at all.  Then the film takes a turn into revenge mode for the final act.  That was pretty cool.  The one thing didn't like was how the ending was handled.  A voice over tells us Abel's fate and then goodbye.  Really?  It felt like a cop out.  I'd love to hear the reason behind that decision.  That was my initial reaction and then, once the dust settled, I was more at ease with it.  I still have an issue with it.  Does anyone have a problem with it?  I've got my suspicions but man did it end abruptly and jarringly so.